Schiavone, Azarenka reach Pan Pacific Open semis

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CBSS Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the Pan Pacific Open semifinals when Agnieszka Radwanska retired with a left foot injury in the first set.

At 5-0 down, sixth-seeded Radwanska consulted with a trainer during the changeover then the Pole decided she could not continue.

Wozniacki, aiming for her sixth title this year, will meet eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the semis on Friday. Azarenka defeated American qualifier Coco Vandeweghe 6-2, 6-1.

“Im happy about my performance, I feel I have played some great tennis here,” Wozniacki said. “Of course, I am sad for Agnieszka and hopefully she will be back soon.”

Wozniacki could overtake Serena Williams as No. 1 in the world rankings if she lifts the trophy here and reaches the quarterfinals in Beijing next week.

“If I reach No. 1, that is great,” Wozniacki said. “Its always been a goal of mine but if it doesnt happen this year there will be other chances.”

In other matches, French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy beat Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.

Fifth-seeded Schiavone went ahead 6-5 in the third set on a double-fault by Kanepi. She clinched the match with an unreturnable serve to the corner.

Schiavone will meet the winner of the last quarterfinal between Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva.

US midfielder Holden gets new contract with Bolton

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American midfielder Stuart Holden has agreed to a contract extension with Bolton, just eight months after joining the English Premier League club from Major League Soccers Houston Dynamo.

The 25-year-old from Texas, who was born in Scotland, had been signed through this season. The club announced Thursday he agreed to a deal through 2012-13.

Holden initially joined Bolton in January on a short-term deal. The Netherlands Nigel de Jong broke Holdens right leg during a March 3 exhibition against the U.S., restricting Holden to just three appearances last season, but he has started each of Boltons six Premier League matches this season.

A member of the U.S. World Cup team, Holden says the injury “made me more determined to make an impact when I came back for preseason.”

Chelsea, Arsenal meet seeking to rally from losses

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Chelsea and Arsenal meet in the Premier League at the weekend in the rare position of both seeking to rebound from defeats in the previous round.

Although the London rivals rallied with midweek wins in the Champions League, both want to restore confidence in the race for the domestic title.

Defending champion Chelsea lost 1-0 to Manchester City but Arsenals 3-2 home defeat against newly promoted West Bromwich Albion could be far more damaging.

Chelsea will still lead the standings even if it loses, but, with third-place Manchester United at Sunderland on Saturday and City hosting Newcastle the following day, Arsenal could slip out of the top four if it loses on Sunday.

Lukasz Fabianski replaced Manuel Almunia for Tuesdays 3-1 win at Partizan Belgrade after the goalkeepers mistakes against West Brom. Fabianski saved a penalty and is keen to continue his good form against Chelsea.

“There was a big shock on Saturday when we lost, but I think you could see against Partizan that we had learned some things from Saturday,” Fabianski said. “The performance was much better so we are looking forward to the Chelsea game.

“It is going to be an exciting one to watch, and we are in good condition.”

But Arsenal missed the injured Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner the past two matches, with the absence of that sort of quality potentially damaging against the Blues.

Fabregas has been out with a hamstring injury since Sept. 18 and manager Arsene Wenger is prepared to select a team still missing its captain.

“It looks a 50:50 but a 50:50 balancing on the negative side,” Wenger said. “I will find out on Saturday morning.”

Chelsea has five wins from its six matches and has scored 21 goals.

Didier Drogba is in form with five of those goals and has a great record against the Gunners, scoring four goals in two matches last season to take his tally to 12 goals in 10 appearances against Arsenal.

“Its a team Ive done well against in certain games,” Drogba said. “I hope this match resembles the last one we had against them.”

Drogba insisted that his teammates were unconcerned by the defeat to a City side that has spent heavily in an effort to at least qualify for the Champions League.

“We were disappointed because we lost, but we knew it would happen at one time or another,” Drogba said. “Its true that the press built us up, but were conscious of what we have to do to if we want to keep the title and its no problem losing one match.”

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti will return to England on Sunday in time for the match following the death of his father. Chelsea said Ancelotti was with his 87-year-old father, Giuseppe Ancelotti, when he died in Italy on Wednesday.

United, which won 1-0 in the Champions League at Valencia, is also seeking to overcome a disappointing Premier League performance following a 2-2 draw at Bolton.

United has not lost to Sunderland in the league since 1997 but will again be without striker Wayne Rooney because of injury.

Also Saturday, Tottenham tries to attain some consistency when it hosts Aston Villa. Spurs beat FC Twente 4-1 in the Champions League despite playing a half hour with 10 men but has only one win from its last four Premier League matches.

Everton is at Birmingham, Blackburn is at Stoke, Bolton is at West Brom, Fulham is at West Ham and Woverhampton Wanderers is at Wigan.

Liverpool hosts Blackpool in Sundays other game.

In the second-tier League Championship, leader Queens Park Rangers hosts third-place Norwich, while second-place Cardiff hosts Bristol City and Watford is at Portsmouth.

AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire in Paris contributed to this report.

Leader Valencia hosts Athletic Bilbao in La Liga

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Valencia has to quickly rebound from its first loss of the season - a 1-0 home defeat against Manchester United in the Champions League - to hold on to the Spanish league lead against a tough Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Barcelona hopes to field Lionel Messi when it hosts Mallorca on Sunday following a difficult Champions League draw with Rubin Kazan, and slow-scoring Real Madrid plays Deportivo La Coruna at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Villarreal hosts Racing Santander in its bid to stay second in the standings, above Barcelona and Madrid.

The Madrid squad, which has scored six goals in five league matches, has been working under coach Jose Mourinho to improve its tactical awareness, defender Alvaro Arbeloa said.

“Mourinho is helping all of us improve on a tactical level,” Arbeloa said. “We are excessively worried about our forwards having a rough patch. The team has great forwards and I am sure that, by the end of the season, they will have scored many times.”

Ten days after injuring his ankle at Atletico Madrid, Messi came on as a substitute to play the last 34 minutes of Wednesdays Champions League game in Russia, which was enough time to launch four shots on goal and make 25 passes.

Coach Pep Guardiola may be without Xavi Hernandez, who has problems with tendinitis and was left off Spains squad for next months European Championship qualifiers.

Barcelonas medical team said on the club website that Xavi has been struggling with the problem “for several weeks” and that it has now “reached an acute stage.”

“Tomorrow, in consideration of the players condition, we will decide whether he will also miss the game against Mallorca,” the statement said.

Valencia coach Unai Emery is likely to be without two key players as Joaquin Sanchez has a left leg injury and Netherlands international Hedwiges Maduro is to undergo tests on Friday as a result of persistent muscle pains in his left leg.

“Racing Santander is going to present us with a very complicated match,” Villarreal coach Javi Garcia said. “It is a team that has been capable of two wins in its two away matches this season, and it has let in very few goals.”

Also on Saturday, its Zaragoza vs. Sporting and Real Sociedad vs. Espanyol. On Sunday, Getafe hosts Hercules, Almeria plays Malaga and Osasuna hosts Levante.

Europe keeps everyone guessing about pairings

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CBSSports.com European captain Colin Montgomerie is keeping everyone guessing about his Ryder Cup pairings.

For the second day of practice Wednesday in the rain at Celtic Manor, Montgomerie hardly kept an Italian brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari and the Northern Ireland duo of Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.

Lee Westwood was playing with Ross Fisher, while Padraig Harrington was with Peter Hanson. The Swede had been paired with Miguel Angel Jimenez, but on Wednesday the Spaniard was with Ian Poulter.

Martin Kaymer and Donald were the other pairing for a practice round that Europe delayed by an hour because of the steady rain.

The Americans kept several of their players together, mostly noticeable Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker; Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson; and Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan.

Jim Furyk is also in the Woods foursome with Rickie Fowler, the 21-year-old rookie who had never played with Woods until Wednesday. Matt Kuchar was with Stewart Cink, while Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson were together. There is speculation that Overton and Watson might only play once before the Sunday singles.

Montgomerie has said he wants all 12 of his side to play on the opening day of matches Friday.

Schiavone overpowers Date Krumm at Pan Pacific

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CBSS French Open champion Francesca Schiavone beat local favorite Kimiko Date Krumm 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open.

Date Krumm celebrated her 40th birthday on Tuesday with a victory against Daniela Hantuchova in the second round, but was no match for the fifth-seeded Italian.

Schiavone overpowered Date Krumm with solid groundstrokes, breaking serve three times in the first set to take a 5-1 lead.

“In the first set, I was leading 5-1 but every point was close,” Schiavone said. “We were fighting for every single point and every game was very close, with lots of deuces.”

Date Krumm, who also beat defending champion Maria Sharapova in the first round, fought back in the second set to take a 3-2 lead but was broken in the seventh game and never recovered.

“In the second set when I broke for 4-3, that was when I knew I could win,” Schiavone said.

Date Krumm played last week in Seoul and said her busy schedule was a factor.

“This morning, I felt a little bit tired,” Date Krumm said. “She used a lot of spin and made me run very wide so I ended up tired.”

Date Krumm, who won the Tokyo tournament in 1995, turned professional in 1989 and retired in 1996, before resuming her career nearly 12 years later. Earlier this year, she became the oldest woman to beat a top-10 player when she defeated Dinara Safina at the French Open.

In other matches, second-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia overpowered Italys Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-0 to set up a quarterfinal against seventh-seeded compatriot Elena Dementieva, who beat Italys Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-2.

Agnieszka Radwanska, seeded sixth, beat fellow Pole Andrea Petkovic 6-3, 6-3 while Coco Vandeweghe of the United States defeated Germanys Julia Goerges 6-3, 6-0.

UEFA fines AIK ?60,000 for fan violence

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UEFA has fined Stockholm club AIK ?60,000 ($82,000) for fan violence after a Europa League playoff match against Levski Sofia.

AIK announced details of the fine on its website Wednesday. UEFA had already charged AIK with “lack of order and security” after violence erupted outside the Rasunda Stadium on Aug. 19.

AIK hooligans attacked the Bulgarian teams bus with rocks and bottles after the 0-0 draw. No serious injuries were reported, but Levski owner Todor Batkov said he and two players were hit and the windshield of the bus was damaged.

Levski won the return leg in Bulgaria 2-1 to advance to the group stages of the competition.

AIK was also fined euro15,000 ($20,000) for fan violence during a July 28 Champions League qualifier against Rosenborg.

Man City meets fading Juventus in Europa League

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Manchester City meets Juventus in the Europa League on Thursday in the sort of match the English clubs billionaire owners want to see their team play regularly.

The match is one of 24 on Thursday in the group stage of what may be Europes second-tier tournament, but Juventus reputation is illustrious enough to excite fans and players.

Twice European champion, Juventus has history and status on its side despite Citys recently found wealth.

“City is proof of how big-name signings and big spending, almost ?100 million if I am not mistaken, is not enough to obtain great results,” Juventus defender Marco Motta said. “But its clear that they are a rival that has all of our respect and we will have to be on guard.”

Juventus is ninth in Serie A after just two wins in five games under new coach Luigi Del Neri and drew 3-3 with unheralded Lech Poznan in its opening Europa League match.

“We are trying to adapt with the arrival of at least 10 new elements this summer,” Motta said. “To assemble the newcomers takes time.”

City is fourth in the Premier League after six games and domestic success is its immediate priority, but the club has not won a major trophy since 1976 so any silverware would be welcome.

“Once we can put that to bed, it will be the start of something big,” assistant manager Brian Kidd said. “Winning is intoxicating. When you get your first trophy, you want more.”

Germany defender Jerome Boateng could start for City for the first time, boosting a side coming off a surprise 1-0 win over Premier League leader Chelsea. Right back Micah Richards could also return from a hamstring injury.

Liverpool, the other English team in the competition, opened with a 4-1 win over Steaua Bucharest.

The five-time European champions are at FC Utrecht on Thursday without a win in three matches, but it has won all five of its games in Europe under new coach Roy Hodgson and has lost only once in six visits to the Netherlands.

Hodgson is likely to play a strong side, including Spain striker Fernando Torres, but captain Steven Gerrard has been rested.

“Its on my mind to play Torres, Raul Meireles and Dirk Kuyt on Thursday,” Hodgson said. “Theyre knitting together well.”

Steaua, European champion in 1986, hosts Napoli with a new coach at the helm after Marius Lacatus was hired as replacement for Ilie Dumitrescu, who resigned last week. Lacatus third spell in charge began with a 1-0 loss at Otelul Galati on Sunday.

Three other former European champions - FC Porto, Borussia Dortmund and PSV Eindhoven - are also in action, while defending champion Atletico Madrid hosts Bayer Leverkusen in the teams first ever meeting.

Atletico, which beat Fulham in last seasons final, lost its opener 1-0 at lowly Aris two weeks ago but is unbeaten in 14 home matches in Europes second-tier tournament. The Spanish side is without center back Diego Godin, who is out for three weeks with a knee injury.

Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes returns to Spain having previously coached Atleticos city rival Real Madrid.

“I know and follow Spanish football,” Heynckes said. “The Atletico team are well organized, play creative football and are good defensively - it was not always like that.”

Villarreal, which is second in the Spanish league after four straight victories, looks to bounce back from a 2-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in its opening Group D match when it hosts Club Bruges.

“Its clear we need to win, because to get through we need to get more than 10 points,” Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido said.

Dortmund has climbed to second place in the Bundesliga thanks to five wins in a row and hosts Sevilla, which hired Gregorio Manzano as its new coach on Monday after Antonio Alvarez was fired following a poor run of results.

Sevilla, which won Europes second-tier competition in 2006 and 07, began Group J play with a 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

Porto travels to CSKA Sofia in Group L and PSV is at FC Metalist Kharkiv in Group I.

Marseille slams Chelsea’s security after CL game

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Marseilles head of security said Wednesday he was thrown out of Stamford Bridge ahead of the French clubs 2-0 loss at Chelsea in the Champions League and slammed the Premier League club for its cold welcome.

Guy Cazademont told Marseilles website it was the first time he experienced such a hostile reception at a European competition and said he was “grabbed round the waist” by Chelsea security officials before being ejected from the stadium.

“I was expecting something else since everything went well when we played at Liverpool, Bolton, Manchester or Newcastle,” Cazademont said. “I cant figure out how they deal with security.”

Cazademont added that Marseilles stewards were not allowed to supervise the clubs fans and were ordered to stay seated during the game, while Marseilles banners were banned in the stadium.

“I went to the stands and temper quickly frayed,” Cazademont said. “Instead of speaking with my Chelsea counterpart, I had to deal with Chelsea stewards.”

Cazademont also claimed that several Marseille fans and officials were denied access to the stadium despite carrying proper tickets or credentials.

Marseille said it will refer the case to UEFA.

Chelsea released a statement Wednesday, saying it was investigating “a number of incidents at Tuesday evenings game involving the away support.” It added the club would comment further only after the results of the investigations were shared with UEFA.

Chelsea won after first-half goals by John Terry and Nicolas Anelka.

Date Krumm celebrates 40th birthday with victory

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CBSS Japans Kimiko Date Krumm celebrated her 40th birthday on Tuesday by progressing to the third round of the Pan Pacific Open, while top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Greta Arn.

A day after eliminating defending champion Maria Sharapova, Date Krumm won again in her hometown when Daniela Hantuchova was forced to retire with a right shoulder injury while trailing 2-6, 6-0, 4-0.

“Maybe I was lucky because it was my birthday,” Date Krumm said. “Considering I had a tough match yesterday, I felt pretty good today.”

Date Krumm, who won the Tokyo tournament in 1995, turned professional in 1989 and retired in 1996, before resuming her career nearly 12 years later. Earlier this year, she became the oldest woman to beat a top 10 player when she defeated Dinara Safina at the French Open.

If she lifts the trophy again in Tokyo, she would become the oldest woman to win a WTA Tour title, replacing Billie Jean King, who won the Birmingham title in 1983 aged 39.

Wozniacki, who had a first-round bye, needed just over an hour to dispatch Arn at Ariake Colosseum for her first win in three appearances in the Tokyo tournament.

“Its a new tournament every year,” said Wozniacki. “Its a really fast court here, so you need to always be focused.”

Wozniacki next faces 16th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in the third round. Pavlyuchenkova beat Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-2, 6-1.

Elsewhere, Russias Vera Zvonareva overpowered Italys Sara Errani 6-3, 6-3. The tournaments No. 2 seeded player beat Errani for the third time in three meetings to set up a third-round showdown with Italys Roberta Vinci, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.

Zvonareva, this years finalist at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, is making her third appearance in the tournament but her previous appearances both resulted in first-round defeats.

Elsewhere, No. 7 Elena Dementieva of Russia trounced Kazakhstans Yaroslav Shvedova 6-0, 6-1, while No. 8 Victoria Azarenka, prevailed over Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3.